Chapter 71 Hard Reality
Dante's POV
I had to give it to her, she deserved it. I can count the number of times I've had my heart in my mouth, and this was certainly one of them.
“You must be kidding me?” Nico asked as his face squeezed into a shocked look. “No way,” he added with a smile.
“I'm not,” I said firmly. “I mean, I didn't see you coming up with any bright ideas back then,” I added with a playful shake of my head as I waited for the jet's steps to be dropped.
“I would have come up with something,” Nico said with a tone that suggested he wasn't even convinced by his words.
“Sure,” I retorted with a smirk. “You really looked like you had something coming off your sleeves. I think it was sweat or tears I saw back there,” I joked as I nudged him playfully.
He laughed slightly as the steps reached the floor and the jet's doors swung open to reveal Serena at the top.
“That was a close call, wasn't it?” Serena looked to yell from the top.
It reached me down here as something more like a whisper, but it still looked pretty cute.
“She's really something, isn't she?” I asked without putting much thought into it.
I turned as Nico shrugged. “She's beating my expectations anyway,” he replied with a pretty much unimpressed look.
“Your expectations were pretty low then,” I shot back.
“What more can you expect considering the circumstances surrounding her,” he replied.
I shook my head, taking off my jacket and putting it over my shoulder. “You are just being too hard on her,” I replied, looking up at her.
She raised her hands in the air, in a way to ask what's taking us so long. I smiled and motioned to her to relax.
“No, Don. From the start, I think you've been taking it very easy on her,” he questioned, putting his leg on the steps.
“She's under my protection now,” I replied. “I have to give her the benefit of doubt till proven otherwise.”
Nico looked back at the fallen warehouse sure and down at the fallen bodies. I just knew what was coming next.
“Don?” He started and I could almost swear I knew what he would say next.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“Have you given Luca's words a thought?” He asked.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, raising my tone slightly.
“I mean, we are losing a lot, the family is losing a lot. The jet, the warehouse, 180 billion dollars worth of goods, when will it be enough, Don?” He asked.
I gulped hard, choosing not to give him a response.
“I know she saved us today, I commend her for her bravery and guts which she's always had. But from the start, we would never have been in that situation if not for her,” he continued.
I took a deep breath and ran a hand over my face.
“Think of it, Don. We've lost men, we've lost soldiers, we've lost workers—”
“We've lost more over the years and we'll always get them back!” I cut him off.
“Fair point, but why were those ones lost? They were lost in combat, either protecting the honour of this family or the borders, but now? What are these men dying for? A strange lady from another family that is illegally being kept by their leader?” He shot back.
For a second there, I had forgotten why I was having this conversation. I had forgotten my whole point simply cause Nico was right.
He was fucking right and there was no easier way to put it.
“Think about it, Don. Do you remember our casinos? When last did you enter there?” He asked, shocking me entirely as I had actually forgotten about them all along.
I couldn't answer.
“Exactly, you don't check on them again, neither do you check the records again. They used to pull up our biggest inflow of cash, but since the issue with Luca, they stopped supplying drugs to us and no drugs mean no people,” he explained.
I looked up and Serena was no longer there.
“The casinos are experiencing reduced numbers, there's really nothing much there again,” he added.
“We had other suppliers,” I made a weak attempt at an excuse.
“Marco was our maybe guy, he brought in nearly double of all the rest could put together. I believe that paints the perfect picture of what we have left,” he answered.
I ran a hand through my hair, I never saw any of these coming. “We'll get new suppliers,” I replied.
“With the legal issues facing our name with us holding back a family's queen? We can barely draw an agreement with anyone at this rate,” he shot back.
“We have other channels that bring more than the casinos,” I replied.
“Yeah, we do. And now? We just lost one and from the looks of things, it could be the first of many,” he shot back.
“We have 9 more and we'll double up on security around them,” I replied.
“Good, but no offense Don, is that really your plan for all these?” He asked and I could tell he only meant good by the look in his eyes.
“I have a plan, but it requires more time,” I replied.
“How much time do we have till we go broke, Don?” He asked.
I was about to say it's impossible but he beat me to it.
“What looked nearly impossible weeks back now has a route to its possibility. For the first time since the coming together of this family, we have recorded a loss in a week's financial report,” he announced.
“That's not possible,” I remarked. It's something that hasn't happened since a Russo became the head of this family, which was the inception of the family too.
“I wish it was so, Don, but it's true. I wanted to tell you all these before we left for Peru, but you were so hell-bent on finding a fix for Serena, so I couldn't,” he replied.
I took a deep breath and brought my jacket down from my shoulder. “I have a plan, Nico. You know who I am, what I have planned would make us the greatest family in Mafia history, I just need more time and trust,” I said.
“I know you, Don. I know you more than most do and yes, I trust you. But I can't tell for the men, I fear you may lose their trust pretty soon,” Nico replied.
I raised a brow, surprised at that. “What do you mean?” I asked.
He looked around and stepped closer like he didn't want anyone else to hear even though there wasn't a soul within earshot.
“I didn't want to tell you this, but I think you must know it now.”